Walking shoe with vamp wrinkles minimized



Oct. 30, 1951 F. G. POON WALKING SHOE WITH VAMP WRINKLES MINIMIZED Filed Nov. 4, 1948 INVENTOR. [$50 65 Poo/v, BY

Patented Oct. 30, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WALKING SHOE WITH VAMP WRINKLES MINIMIZED Walking shoes as heretofore constructed have a toe cap and a vamp connected one to the other across the top of the shoe on a line which extends at right angles to the major axis of the shoe. Since such a line of connection of toe cap and vamp does not overlie the metatarsal-phalangeal joints of the toes, the vamp is caused, when the shoe is bent forward and the heel raised in the act of walking, to Wrinkle or fold along a plurality of intersecting line and thus ultimately cause the leather or other material of which the vamp is made to split. Furthermore, such wrinkling of the leather imposes a downward pressure of the inward folds of the wrinkled material on the top of the toes and instep with resultant discomfort to the wearer, as well as interference with free bending of all of the toes, and causing the formation of corns.

Also, shoes as presently constructed have the seam between the quarter and the vamp on a line which further interferes with free bending of the shoe in walking to cause additional wrinkling of the vamp.

It is a purpose of my invention to provide a shoe in which the disadvantages of the present shoe as above recited are overcome by connecting the vamp to the toe cap on a line which substantially overlies the metatarsal phalangeal joints of all of the toes and connecting the front of the quarter to the rear edge of the vamp on a line which is substantially parallel to the line of connection between the toe cap and the forward edge of the vamp, and connecting the side edges of the vamp to the side edges of the quarter on lines curved downwardly and rearwardly in the normal position of the shoe but in a plane paralleling the ground when the quarter is bent to its greatest angle in walking.

By connecting the front edge of the vamp to the toe cap as aforesaid, the vamp is free to bend relative to the cap along a line corresponding to and directly overlying the phalanges of all of the toes where the toes naturally bend in walking. In consequence, the vamp allows free bending of the shoe and toes with minimized wrinkling of the vamp, and in so doing reduces downward pressure and friction on the toes.

By connecting the front of the quarter to the rear edge of the vamp on a line substantially paralleling the line of connection between the toe cap and the forward edge of the vamp, and connecting the sides of the vamp and quarter as above set forth, further wrinkling of the vamp is prevented and downward pressure on the top and sides of the foot is practically eliminated.

The net result of connecting the vamp to the 2 toe cap" and the quarter in the manner set forth is that a shoe is produced which permits free bending of the toes in walking and minimizes transverse wrinkling of the vamp to provide the advantages of prolonging the life of the vamp and preventing downward pressure being exerted by the vamp on the toes andthe resultant formation of corns on the toes.

I will describe only one form of shoe embodying my invention and will then point out the novel features thereof in the claim.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. l is a view showing in side elevation one form of shoe constructed in accordance with my invention.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the shoe.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the vamp andtongue of the shoe shown in the preceding views.

Fig. i is an elevational view on a reduced scale showing the shoe bent to its maximum angle when walking.

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4, but showing the shoe in front elevation.

Having specific reference to the drawings, the shoe of my invention has been shown as of the oxford type and more particularly a blucher,.although it is to be understood that my invention is applicable to the regular high shoe or the regular oxford. The illustration of the shoe of my invention is for a right foot and comprises a vamp I 5, a toe cap [6 and a quarter I! all of which are attached to the sole iii in the well known manner. The shoe being of the blucher type the tongue [9 is integral with the vamp [5.

The rear edge 2510f the cap l6 and the forward edge 2| of the vamp are shaped so that when secured to each other by stitching they provide a line of connection 22 of the two which is oblique to the major axis of the shoe and at a point therealong which substantially coincides with a line overlying the joints of the toes with the foot, as illustrated in broken lines in Fig. 2. Line 22 is in front of and parallel to the line 30 along which the vamp bends over the break of the sole, that is, the transverse line along which the sole bends in walking.

The rear edge 23 of the vamp l5 has the concave form better shown in Fig. 3, with the tongue [9 extending rearwardly from such edge. The center portion of the forward edge 24 of the quarter I1 is cut on a convex line to parallel the concave curvature of the vamp edge 23 as will be seen from a comparison of Figs. 2 and 5, so that when stitched together they form a line of connection 25 between the fronts of the lower edge of the quarter and the center portion of the rear of the vamp which is substantially parallel to the line of connection 22 between the cap l6 and the vamp I5. At the sides of the shoe the edges 26 of the quarter I! are stitched to the edge 23 to form lines of connection 21, curved downwardly and rearwardly in the normal position of the shoe as shown in Fig. 1 but in a plane paralleling the ground when the quarter of the shoe is bent to its greatest angle with the upper in walking, as illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5.

In the use of my shoe, the line of connection 22 between the vamp I5 and the toe cap I6 which intersects lies above the joints of the toes with the foot, allows free bending of the shoe and the toes as in walking, and without imposing any downward pressure or friction on the toes thus eliminating any discomfort to the wearer and preventing the formation of corns on the toes. What is equally important, however, is that this oblique line of joinder between the vamp and cap overlying the toe joints, minimizes wrinkling of the vamp as with the ordinary shoe, and thereby prevents cracking of the leather across the thereof and quarters overlying said tongue, and a sole having a shank portion, the toe cap extending rearwardly to a position to overlie substantially all of the metatarsal phalangeal joints of the toes with the rear edge on a transversely forwardly slightly concave line diagonal to the longitudinal axis of the shoe, the vamp having a forward edge on the same diagonal and being connected with the rear edge of the toe cap,

vamp and ultimate splitting thereof, thus prolonging the life of the shoe.

The quarter of any shoe is elevated in the act of Walking to a considerable angle in relation to the vamp, thus producing further wrinkles and downward pressure on the foot both at the front and sides thereof, and creating further discomfort to the wearer. Also, such angular positioning of the quarter in relation to the vamp increases the transverse wrinkling of the vamp. In my shoe, however, and as shown in Fig. 2, because of the fact that the line of connection between the center portion of the front of the quarter and the rear of the vamp, which is substantially parallel to the line of connection 22 between the toe cap and vamp, the vamp at its rear edge is free to bend at this point thereby further reducing the possibility of transverse wrinkling of the vamp.

Further, and as shown in Figs. 4 and 5, by virtue of the lines of connection 21 between the sides of the vamp and the sides of the quarter, the quarter when elevated to its maximum angle in walking, cannot produce wrinkling of the sides of the vamp, and thus the resultant discomfort to the wearer and the splitting of the shoe material in these areas are eliminated.

Although I have herein shown and described my invention embodied in a blucher type of oxford, it is to be understood that it is applicable equally well to the regular form of oxford or high shoe to produce the same advantages.

I claim:

A shoe having an upper consisting of a toe cap, a vamp with an integral tongue at the center the rear edge of the vamp on each side of the integral tongue extending downwardly and rearwardly along a gradually curving line to substantially the medial portion of the shank, the quarters having forward edges similarly curved and overlapping the vamp and extending downwardly and rearwardly from the longitudinal axis of the shoe to the same portion of the shank and being connected to the rear edge of the vamp only from a point spaced from each side of the integral tongue and slightly to the rear of the corresponding point in the ball portion of the sole to the sole, the forward edges of the quarters from each side of the longitudinal axis to the beginning of the connections with the vamp being substantially parallel with the diagonal connection of the toe cap and vamp, whereby the connections between the vamp and quarters will be substantially parallel to the ground line when the rear quarters are disposed at the maximum angle assumed in walking, and the formation of wrinkles in the vamp between the toe cap and quarters is minimized when bending and flexing the shoe in the act of walking.

FRED G. POON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 249,467 Hally Nov. 15, 1881 1,626,426 Piotrowski Apr. 26. 1927 2,167,274 Costigan July 25, 1939 2,457,664 Harrison Dec. 28, 1948 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 244,196 Italy Apr. 26, 1926 858,165 France May 6, 1940 OTHER REFERENCES Das ABC Schuh Fabrication, February 10, 1933, page 260.

American Shoemaking, September 9, 1936, page American Shoemaking, September 9, 1936, page 30. 

